As I’ve stated before, I love small projects and when a friend posted this pattern on my Facebook wall, it was a great project to do in an evening (and then some). Plus it doubled as her Christmas present – bonus!

She’s a great photographer so she sent me her favorite mug wrapped up in the cozy. I had to do some crochet techniques – chaining and such – but it was fun to finally learn how to do that when usually I just avoid patterns that have any crocheting in them.

You kind of have to make the cozy based on your own mug since it’s not quite a one-size-fits-all, but thankfully yarn is stretchy and you can fudge it. It fit her mug well enough and is a great gift idea! Thanks, J, for the idea and photos!

Maybe this isn’t something to toot about, but why not.

My brother loves the chai latte mixes for the Keurig so I thought for Christmas to make him his own mix instead of spending the $4 per cup (or whatever it costs).

I found the recipe here and mixed it up to put in a cute mason jar, which, in my opinion, can be used for practically anything. Made a label and slapped on some wrapping paper: a great gift, easy, and delicious!

As promised, here is the Labrador dog I’ve been working on since October. This pattern stretched me to the limits! Very detailed and precise, lots of pieces (12 total to seam together), and LOTS of time!

I learned (again) the importance of reading a pattern before you start it. I saw this one, thought, “Oh, perfect! They have a Labrador dog so they’ll love this!” and failed to read that the pattern was 7 pages long and is knitted on size 2 needles (translation: instant carpal tunnel.)

I also learned that I am not a perfectionist when it comes to my knitting. This little guy looks more like Santa’s Little Helper from The Simpsons than a sophisticated pooch, but he’s cute and kind of loveable in his goofy way. I’m glad to have finished it despite my feelings of wanting to burn it halfway through.

How could I burn that sweet little face though with his wonky eyes? Side note: I made his little collar too…on my sewing machine…with a one and a half year old in my lap. Job well done. And yes, I feel totally justified in congratulating myself.

My son’s waist goes in instead of out so I’ve been wanting to sew him a little belt. Thinking it would take me two days I kept putting it off until I googled “easy belt tutorial,” found this gem, and realized it literally takes 20 minutes.

Well. In theory.

It took me maybe an hour because I always do things wrong and sewing straight lines really messes me up. I made it too short but then was able to turn that piece into a matching tie for Christmas thanks to this tutorial! It’s velcro so no fuss over tying it.

Photographing him in them is another story, but they work great and are perfect things to make with leftover fabric.

It’s funny that as crafters you go through different seasons of what sounds enjoyable to make. I couldn’t imagine knitting even a dishcloth this past summer and now all I do is knit!

I’m under contract (not really, but that’s fun to say) to complete a series of projects for a relative who is having a baby soon. After knitting the hat, booties, and bloomers (see earlier blog post), I’ve since completed a Toronto Maple Leafs hockey player (since they hail from Canada) and am ALMOST done with a Labrador dog – post will be coming.

I throw in a quick project every now and then and of course never take pictures, but I just finished these cat paw fingerless gloves for my niece who is turning 9 next week. I’ll try to get her hands in them rather than mine…they look a little stretched out on me.

More to come! And a big thanks to my brother and his fancy camera.

Hat, bloomers, and booties! Hat is from Baby Beanies, bloomers are from Boho Baby Knits, and booties are from Saartje Knits blog. Made these for a boy on his way and almost kept the hat for my son, but that just wouldn’t be the right thing to do (plus it didn’t fit him).

For the first time ever, I ordered nice yarn from online rather than from Joann…man. What a difference! I got it from knitpicks.com and thought the prices were reasonable for the quality. It was like knitting butter – plus everyone commented on how soft the finished pieces were. I never noticed a huge difference after I blocked a piece but with this yarn it was like all of the mistakes and discrepancies vanished. So I might be on the road to yarn snobbery…minus the snob.